Brentwood School - Brentwoodian 2020

87 This year, more than ever perhaps, it seems important to reflect on the privileges and opportunities we, as a school community, have. We saw this with our excellent remote learning provision, as well as the precautions now being taken in school. In addition, as a nation, we saw copious amounts of NHS heroes working tirelessly to combat the pandemic, as well as charities such as food banks and refuge centres helping those in need. It really highlighted, to me personally, how integral charities and volunteers are to our daily lives. That is why I am proud that we, as a school, always strive to help local, national and international charities wherever and whenever possible. Last academic year was no exception and, despite the obvious set-backs, I was so inspired by the tenacity of our community to continue helping organisations when they needed it more than ever before. Our fundraising started off well in the Michaelmas term, with key moments such as the Christmas Fayre allowing all six Houses to raise money for their chosen local charity, some of which included Essex Wildlife Trust (West) and Little Havens Hospice (Weald). What I really liked seeing this year was the innovation of what was sold at the stalls. West used the photos from their House Week competition to create a wildlife photography calendar, which was then sold to raise funds - incredible! Each House raised just over £300 for each charity, which was an impressive feat for one lunchtime! Continuing the theme of festive cheer, I was moved by how the whole school community took part in our Form Food Bank Challenge, which saw every Form in the school collect essential, and luxury, items for the Brentwood Food Bank. We had over 40 boxes for the charity to collect and they were so grateful to us, stating that we would have made many families very happy over what is usually a difficult time. Unfortunately, the following two terms saw the obvious disruption, but that didn’t stop our fundraising efforts. House weeks went virtual, with Houses such as Weald setting up JustGiving pages to fundraise instead. This worked incredibly well; Clarise Castleman’s walking challenge raised over £2,000 for Little Havens Hospice, a school record for a fundraising event (at least in my time as Charity Co-ordinator!). I was also heartened to see students and family members donating to the John Killilea Foundation for our virtual Sports Day, which was a great success. Whilst we are still waiting on the final total for last year, at last look we had raised over £10,000. This just goes to show that, despite setbacks, the Brentwood School Community has kindness and empathy at its heart. I hope, now that we are back to school, we can build on the fantastic work of last year and continue to help those in need. By Miss Martin, Charity Co-ordinator Charity